Mikko Syrjäläinen: I could retire from here.

That's roughly how it would be Mikko Syrjalainen development engineer To Juhana Hirn when he started working at the UPM Pellos mill in Mikkeli in August 2024. Mikko, who had been driving a taxi for 26 years, had learned all the secrets of plywood manufacturing from his customers before ever setting foot inside the gates of Europe's largest plywood factory.

From taxi driver to veneer supervisor

Like all new production employees at Pellos, Mikko's permanent employment began with a two-year apprenticeship.

“During that time, I will learn the tasks of four workstations,” he says.

The first of these is the lathe at the beginning of the process, with which Mikko monitors the incoming, rounding and creation of veneer from peeled and cut wood.

While introducing the lathe, Mikko also talks about the background to his career change:

“I love taxi work, but it took almost all of my life.”

The 49-year-old man, who has worked as a taxi driver for up to five times and has driven his own taxi for a long time, has had his neck operated on twice and his back operated on once. Despite these and other health problems, no obstacles to factory work were found during the pre-employment inspection.

While a taxi driver's job is free, mobile and unpredictable, factory work is regular and tied to a location. That doesn't bother Mikko.

“When I saw the recruitment announcement in June 2024, I thought I wouldn’t go to the factory. For years I had thought that factory work with its working hours wasn’t for everyone. Slowly, however, I started to get interested in the job and here we are. The best thing has been to notice how much even an old dog can learn new things.”

Mikko talks a lot about the joy of learning and problem-solving. He urges us to be critical of prejudices about factory work: “Don’t let others define your image for you.”

The commission-based salary, constant on-call work, and non-existent nights of sleep have been replaced by regular factory working hours, paid summer vacation, and even year-round work shifts.

"I got the 12-hour shifts I wanted. Four days of work followed by six days off," Mikko describes, laughing with a twinkle in the corner of his eye:

"I can even drive a taxi in my free time if I'm really bored!"

So far, that has not happened.

Meaningful work comes from more than just money

The lathe hall smells of resin and wet bark. The scent is reminiscent of a pile of wood soaked in the rain. The subtle scent of drying wood and fresh sawdust floating on the lathe mixes with the oily note of the machines. Although the handling of damp wood raises the temperature in the hall to almost thirty degrees, it is cool in the air-conditioned control room.

Mikko Syrjäläinen monitors the turning process both from the screens and from the control room windows.

“This must be a fly’s eye.”

The screens flash the log entry positions, the lathe movements and the veneer progress. His hands rest on the control panel and his eyes follow the wood moving 90 meters per minute and the quality of the veneer. Although the lathe is automatic, Mikko controls the work at least half the time with semi-automatic control.

“With manual operation, the movements go to the spine. Then you have control in all situations.”

Although the turner, with his keen eyes and ears, reacts to disturbances immediately, there are interruptions. Mikko glances at the screen, gets up from his chair and nods to the familiar colleague who is taking a break. The team leader of the turning department To Jarmo Koivumäki. The men put on their helmets and goggles and step out of the control room. Safety shoes clatter on the metal grate of the stairs. The log has bounced out of place and the lathe is standing still. Mikko and Jarmo lift the log onto the lifting arm. The wood creaks and settles back into the lathe's grip. A button is pressed, the system checks the fastening and the green light comes on.

"That was a tough guy. Let's hope the next one doesn't throw tantrums," Mikko says.

Mikko Syrjäläinen emphasizes having fun at work. Despite the importance of salary, euros alone do not make work meaningful. Even though everyone has their own jobs, no coworker is left alone. People dare to ask questions and they are answered. Everyone is greeted.

"It's also easy to approach the shift supervisors and the factory manager. It helps us enjoy our work when our bosses are interested in how things are going at work," continues Mikko.

You spend half a day at a time in the same booth with your workmate. You get to know each other. The temperature is adjusted to suit both of you and you agree on a radio channel you like. Koivumäki, who has worked at the factory for 36 years, also talks about making friends and having family parties.

A ten-minute ride home

Mikko is home in ten minutes. The rental home is in one half of a semi-detached house in Ristiina, one of Mikkeli's small, lively neighborhoods. The children are already adults. It's a twenty-five-step walk from the back door to the pier on the shore of Lake Saimaa. Mikko smiles and gestures towards the lake.

"When I leave for work, I often take a picture or two to capture the current position of the sun."

Three Chinese roses bloom in the bright living room, an interest in growing which was sparked in my childhood home. There were a maximum of 32 plants, but most of them found new homes when we moved. Mikko still goes to cut the largest one, which is placed in the daycare club room, in the spring. While making the rounds as a vacuum cleaner salesman, Mikko noticed a Chinese rose with a straight stem growing in a spherical shape in a farmhouse. It has stuck in my mind:

"The kind that could still be grown."

Only Nina-wife tragically died four years ago and Mikko was left a widower, in addition to the support of his loved ones, the professionals at the Mikkeli Crisis Center helped him along. Since then, the man has trained as a crisis hotline operator and peer group facilitator. Part of his free time is spent as a crisis hotline operator and assistant group facilitator.

In Lions work and on the jogging trails

Mikko, who moved from Söderkulla to Ristiina in Sipoo, has naturally blended into the village community. Locals remember the Syrjäläinen couple not only as taxi entrepreneurs, but also as the organizers of the whole family's Talvirieha. In eight years, the distribution of pea soup expanded into a provincial winter event with 800 people, where people skied down a hill, went sledding and rode a dog sled. The original idea was born on a nighttime taxi ride.

Mikkeli ranked second among Finnish cities in the 2021 happiness index.

“This village and its people have always given so much and we wanted to give something back.”

The sense of community that Mikko describes is one of the factors that made Mikkeli the second-best city in Finland in the 2021 Happiness Index. The index, compiled by the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), also praised the quality of life, well-being and proximity to nature experienced by residents.

Today, Mikko is involved in the Ristiina Lions Club, where the job of market leader will be supplemented by the position of president next year.

Mikko enjoys heading out into nature. Near the village of Ristiina, on the opposite bank from the Pellos factories, at the Linnaniemi lean-to, he cuts logs into suitable lengths and lights fires. The Linnaniemi route has become familiar to the avid jogger.

"I wear out two pairs of shoes in the summer," he laughs, and in the same breath also talks about jogging with his friend in a wheelchair.

“That’s how you know you’ve moved when you push your wheelchair up Huumonmäki!”

In addition to Linnaniemi, there are plenty of other routes in the surrounding area. You can head to Säynätti, Anttola Neitvuori or Puumala Norppapolu. You can also hike to Suomenniemi, Haukivuori and Repovesi National Park. There are also places to rest, as the area has over 50 huts, lean-tos and campfire sites.

In a year, Mikko will be filling in the blanks. The Caribbean cruise he has long dreamed of is on his mind: “If I booked it now, I would have a year to save and plan.”

Until then, everyday life goes smoothly as he learns the tasks of his new workstations. As he walks out of the gate of the Pellos factory, Mikko smiles: “I could retire from here.”